Toy shield



Jan. 21 1958 R. GUYER 2,820,318

TOY SHIELD Filed June 28, 1954 21 2 2 10 Z0 AR 13 23 I "'z I 25 27- I 34 /9 H] 0 I 33 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent 6 TOY SHIELD Reynolds Guyer, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to Waldorf Paper Products Company, Ramsey County, Minm, a corporation of Minnesota Application June 28, 1954, Serial No. 439,787

4 Claims. (Cl. 46-1) This invention relates to an improvement in shields and deals particularly with a shield shaped object made of paperboard or the like and designed to simulate shields used by the crusaders of many years ago. The Knights of the Round Table, and others of a similar area, normally used shields to protect themselves from injury by swords, spears, arrows, and the like. These shields were normally formed of metal and were provided with a convex outer surface designed to ward off the missiles aimed against them. These shields usually had parallel sides with a slightly upwardly rounded upper edge. The sides curved inwardly to an apex at the bottom of the shield body. The outer surface of the shield is usually provided with an emblem or coat of arms of the individual fighter or of the country or ruler which the user represented.

An object of the present invention resides in the provision of a toy shield designed to simulate the shields used by the Knights of the Round Table and which are usable either for decorative purposes, or for playthings. The shields are produced of sheet material such as heavy paperboard, or the like, and the outer surface of each shield is provided with an emblem signifying the identity of a particular knight. These emblems are usually printed in color so as to produce an extremely attractive appearance and have been found to be very popular for the intended purpose.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a toy shield having a shield like body and a rear portion thereupon. The rear portion comprises flaps or panels attached to the marginal side edges of the shield body and secured in overlapped relation so as to hold the body of the shield in convex form. As a result the shield assumes an attractive and realistic appearance when assembled.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a shield which may be carried upon the arm of a child. The rear portion of the shield includes overlapped panels which include an aperture through which the arm of the child may extend and spaced apertures which may be grasped by the hand of the child. As a result the shield may be carried in substantially the same position on the arm as the shields of the Knights of the Round Table.

These and other objects and novel features of my invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

Figure l is a plan view of the blank of which the shield is formed.

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the shield in readiness for use.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the shield, the position of the section being indicated by the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

The device is extremely simple in nature as will be obvious from the drawings. The shield is indicated in general by the letter A and is shown as having a shield body 10 which is shaped similarly to the shields used by the Knights of the Round Table. The shield body 10 1s provided with parallel sides 11 and 12 and an upwardly curved top edge 13. From the lower edges of the parallel sides 11 and 12 the body curves inwardly as indicated at 14 and 15 respectively, these edges coming together at an apex 16 at the bottom of the shield. The parallel side edges 11 and 12 comprise fold lines connecting the side edges to a rear panel 17 and to a rear flap 19 respectively. The rear panel 17 in the particular arrangement illustrated extends the major portion of the width of the body portion 10 and is generally rectangular in shape. The upper edge of the rear panel 17 is foldably connected along a fold line 20 to a curved flap 21 having an outwardly bowed edge 22. The curved edge 22 makes the flap 21 thicker at its center than at its ends and this flap is designed to fit against the rear surface of the shield body 10 in the assembled position of the shield and to act as a spacer between the rear panel 17 and the body 10.

The flap 19 is provided with converging upper and lower edges 23 and 24 respectively. Locking tongues 25 and 26 are provided on the top and bottom edges of the flap 19. These locking tongues 25 and 26 are designed to extend into cooperable slots 27 and 29 respectively of the rear panel '17. The tapered edges 23 and 24 space the locking tongues 25 and 26 inwardly from the upper and lower edges of the rear panel 17.

An arm opening 30 is provided in the panel 17 relatively near the fold line 11. The opening 30 is of large size to insert the arm. The panel 17 is provided with a somewhat smaller aperture 31 near the free end of the panel 17. The panel is similarly provided with an even smaller opening 32 near the free edge of the panel. An aperture 33 is provided in the flap 19 which aperture is designed to register with the aperture 32 when the ears 25 and 26 are locked in the slots 27 and 29.

Thus, it will be seen that when the structure has been assembled, the rear of the shield includes a pair of overlapping and interlocked panels having apertures therethrough. The length of the panel 17 and of the flap 19 is proportioned so that when the two parts are locked together, the body 10 is convexed on its outer surface and concave on its inner surface. In other words, the interlocked panels 17 and 19 are bridged across the are formed by the outwardly bowed body of the shield.

The operation of the shield is believed obvious. The left arm is inserted through the opening 30 and the forearm is inserted between the panel 17 and the body portion 10 of the shield. The thumb is inserted through the opening 31 while the fingers are inserted through the aligned apertures 32 and 33. The space between the apertures 31 and the combined apertures 32, 33, thus forms a strip of material which is held between the thumb and fingers so that the shield may be readily manipulated.

Decorating indicia such as 34 may appear upon the forward surface of the shield. In Figure 1 of the drawings the indicia 36 actually comprises the insignia ordinarily used by Sir Gawain. Actually, however, Figure 1 shows the reverse side of the shield in its usual form as the shield is normally supported upon the left hand and the surface of the shield body which is visible in Figure 1 would normally comprise the rear surface. The indicia 36, therefore, would normally appear on the opposite side of the body 10 from that illustrated in Figure 1.

When in use, the flap 21 is usually bent at right angles to the panel 17 so as to form a brace between the panel 17 and the body portion 10. This acts as an additional support for holding the body portion in proper bowed position.

In accordance with the patent statutes, the principles of construction and operation of the improvement in shields have been described and while it has been endeavored to 'set forth the best embodiment thereof, it is desired to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departingfrom the spirit of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A shield comprising a paperboard sheet including a shield body having near the upper end thereof substantially parallel edge portions, a pair of rear panel members one of which is foldably secured to each of said edge portions, said members overlapping, interlocking means on said members holding the same connected, said members when connected, being narrower than the width of the shield body and holding said shield body outwardly bowed away from said members while said members remain fiat, the rear panel members having an arm opening therein and a pair of hand openings in spaced relation to each other, and laterally spaced from said arm opening.

2. A shield comprising a paperboard sheet including a shield shaped body portion, the upper portion of which is provided with substantially parallel side edges, a flap hingedly connected to one of said parallel edges, a rear panel foldably secured to the other of said parallel edges, and interlocking means on said flap and said rear panel operable when interlocked, to hold the rear panel substantially flat and to hold the shield forwardly bowed away from said rear panel, said rear panel having spaced apertures therethrough through one of which a forearm may be inserted.

3. A shield comprising a paperboard sheet including a shield shaped body portion, the upper portion of which is provided with substantially parallel side edges, a flap hingedly connected to one of said parallel edges, a rear panel foldably secured to the other of said parallel edges. and interlocking means on said flap and said rear panel operable, when interlocked, to hold the rear panel substantially flat and to hold the shield forwardly bowed away from said rear panel, said rear panel having an arm opening and a pair of hand openings in spaced relation thereto.

4. The structure of claim 3 and in which the flap includes at least one opening in registry with an opening in said rear panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 701,445 Wood June 3, 1902 1,466,669 Martinson Sept. 4, 1923 1,545,771 Hout July 14, 1925 1,962,258 Okuda June 12, 1934 2,428,772 Aranotf Oct. 14, 1947 

